Dawn [Hardcover]

Kevin Brooks (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 2009

Magical realism and gritty mystery meet in Brooks's provocative dissection of family, friendship, and faith. "A tense psychological thriller...hard-hitting."--Publishers Weekly

Dawn Bundy lives in a cave. In her head. Where's she's been hiding for two years. Hiding behind headphones. From the two hottest girls at school, in their impossibly short skirts and unbearably tight tops, their skin close enough to touch. Not talking to her mother, not about what matters. Not thinking of her dad, the drug addict, the ex-con, born-again but far gone. Two years is a long time. Enough for the cave to grow so small that her breath feels like stone in her throat. Two years is no time at all. Nowhere near enough to forget. To pretend that nothing happened. Deep one perfect morning.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 9 Up—Fifteen-year old Dawn Bundy wants to kill God. Her home life makes the reasons for her disillusionment clear. Two years ago, her drug-dealer and ex-con father abruptly abandoned the family after falling under the twin sway of religious fanaticism and substance abuse, and Dawn now serves as caregiver for her mother, who has turned to alcohol and prescription pills to cope with her pain. Dawn seems to have mostly numbed herself to the trauma of her father's disappearance and the events that led up to it, spending her time walking her dogs, Jesus and Mary, and obsessively listening to the band The Jesus and Mary Chain. And somehow Dawn and her mother have held on financially, living on cash left behind by her father. When two tough, popular girls unexpectedly befriend her, she finds herself unavoidably swept up in their efforts to make her over into a "cool girl" like them. She knows they're using her somehow, but she has no idea how sinister their motives really are. Despite her outward passivity, Dawn is bright, strong-minded, feisty, and extremely funny—the kind of character that teens are likely to connect with immediately. The story's dark themes—including religious fanaticism and sexual abuse—are also likely to appeal to eager readers of the "problem novel" genre. Some students may be puzzled by the questions Brooks leaves unanswered, including the ambiguous ending, but this is a provocative and compelling read for fans of suspense thrillers and realistic fiction alike.—Meredith Robbins, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis High School, New York City
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Shortly after we meet 15-year-old Dawn, she states her agenda: And tomorrow I’m going to start killing God. It’s not often a young-adult protagonist is so openly hostile to religion, and it gives Brooks’ story enough edge to steer us through moments of floundering. Thankfully, Dawn’s ire at Christianity is given a satisfying origin: two years ago, her wayward father moved from drugs and alcohol to religious zealotry, and it was with that fervor that he committed an atrocity. Dawn has mostly blocked it out and now lives alone with her boozy mom and twin dachshunds, Jesus and Mary. Brooks uses a halting, repetitious, and sometimes poetic prose that shifts into self-interrogation when things get too intense: Q. And the gun? Did you keep the gun? A. Yes. It’s a simultaneously gruff and anxious approach that wonderfully depicts Dawn’s confusion when two bad girls begin to ply her with unsolicited vodka and cajole her with makeovers. Though rushed, the climax is undoubtedly dramatic and pulls together puzzle pieces many readers may not have even noticed. Grades 9-12. --Daniel Kraus

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 14 and up
  
• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: The Chicken House (December 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0545060907
• ISBN-13: 978-0545060905
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 6.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,341,044 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Dark story with a brave heroine, January 1, 2010

By 

Barbara Bell (San Carlos, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dawn (Hardcover)

When it comes to New Year's resolutions, I think Dawn Bundy has got us all beat. The main character in Kevin Brooks' latest novel wants to defeat God as a way to heal her pain. She says herself that it's not really a New Year's resolution, but the novel opens on the 1st of January, the start of a brand new year, and she's out for the kill, starting tomorrow.

Before she can defeat her enemy, though, she goes to the bookstore to get as much information as possible to figure out what to do. You see, Dawn is fine with her present-day self at fifteen years old, yet struggles with her thirteen-year-old self who holds memories that are not pleasant and lives in a cave within her head. It is a place that is dark, cold, and bleak.

At 15, Dawn is taking care of her alcoholic mother, wondering where her dad ran off to when he left two years ago, and wondering why the two toughest girls in her school have invited her to hang out and party.

There's a Q and A component to the book which is interesting, like present-day Dawn is talking to Dawn-in-the-cave because she's trying to figure out how she feels. And really, it's not that Dawn wants to kill God, as much as she hates that her dad "found" God and used Him as an excuse to hurt her in a way that feels irreparable.

As our story winds from Dawn leaving the bookstore to running into Mel and Taylor (aka Tough Girls at School) to coping with her everyday life, the reader is treated to Brooks' sharply detailed writing. The ending surprises the reader with something not quite expected, but well thought out and well executed.

Having never read Brooks' work before, this was a good book with which to start. While the story itself is dark, at the core, we have a teen in an identity crisis. She is trying to figure out where she is and who she is. Throw in a few complications like caring for parents, deciphering the mean girls, and trying to fit in, and we have a book that I couldn't put down.

I am giving this 3-stars, though, because there were some things that didn't add up for me. Dawn had this horrible crime done to her by her dad and she loves his favorite music still? Most victims would want nothing to do with the person who committed the crime. While Dawn loved her dad, but hated his crime, she's not black and white enough for a teenager. She sees the good dad, even when he was addicted to drugs and alcohol, and loves him. She doesn't really come to terms with bad dad and what he did because she's still struggling with it. When she gets mad at him later on in the book, we can understand why, but there's still suspended belief because we hear mostly about how good a dad he was, until he takes up with the latest addiction that does him in.

Great writing - great story - I look forward to reading more of Brooks' work, but be prepared for the darkness in this story.

4.0 out of 5 stars Courtesy of Teens Read Too, February 27, 2010

By 

TeensReadToo "Eat. Drink. Read. Be Merrier." (All Over the US & Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dawn (Hardcover)

Dawn Bundy has set out to kill God. She is not exactly sure how to go about it, but she is sure it's the only answer.

Two years ago her father disappeared. It's not that it was a terrible loss. He was a drunken drug addict and pretty worthless as far as she could tell. However, since he disappeared her mother has fallen apart. She spends her time in front of the TV usually drunk and zoned out on her antidepressant meds.

Dawn goes to school and then comes home to hang out. She spends her free time listening to music and snuggling up with her two dogs. Their life isn't perfect, but thanks to her father, she and her mother have money. He left behind a duffel bag full of money. The gun also left inside the bag suggests the money was from some drug deal, but whatever the case, they have used it wisely as they wait for his possible return.

Dawn describes herself as having another Dawn trapped in a cave inside her mind. That other Dawn is hiding from something she doesn't want to remember. Even though Dawn tries to carry on and push aside her memories, they eventually catch up with her and pull the inner Dawn out into the light of day.

Author Kevin Brooks exhibits his unique talent to get inside the psyche of his characters. Through Dawn, readers will live her fears and frustrations as she deals with her alcoholic mother and repressed memories of her absent father. As the layers of her character are peeled away, her story becomes deeper and darker. Readers will feel her desperation, yet sense the underlying hope that drives her.

Fans of Kevin Brooks will want to check out his latest.

Reviewed by: Sally Kruger, aka "Readingjunky"

4.0 out of 5 stars Deep, complex issues are at the root of DAWN, February 1, 2010

By 

Teenreads.com (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dawn (Hardcover)

My name is Dawn.
I'm thirteen years old.
My name is Dawn.
I don't want to think about it.
But every day it hurts more and more and the cave in my head gets smaller and smaller and the cave in my head gets darker and darker and the cave in my head gets colder and colder and if I don't get out of it soon, I think this cave is going to kill me.
Dawn is a daughter.
Dawn is a sex thing.
My name is Dawn.
I'm thirteen years old.
God help me.

Dawn isn't sure she really wants God to help her at all. In fact, she doubts that God even exists --- and if He does, He better watch out. Dawn has plans to kill Him. She wasn't always like this, however. Life used to be simpler.

Most of Dawn's problems began when her father decided that drinking, drugs and shady deals were the way to go. He claimed to have found God along the way, but his disappearance left her and her mother broken and unhinged. Dawn's mother spends her time in front of the television, drink in hand and a bottle of prescriptions not far away. The only thing keeping Dawn and her mother stable is the green duffel bag of money hidden away beneath the floorboards --- a rare gift left by Dawn's father.

Days pass by with no change until the two most popular girls in Dawn's class, Taylor and Mel, decide to "befriend" Dawn and invite themselves over. Dawn is unsure what to think of this unwarranted attention. She introduces them to her dachshunds, Jesus and Mary (named after her favorite band), and attempts to understand why she is suddenly so interesting to this pair of girls.

Their next visit only brings trouble. Taylor and Mel show up with cigarettes, alcohol and the need to perform a makeover on Dawn. As the night slowly spirals out of control, Dawn is forced to confront a mixture of dark, hidden feelings. Taylor is strangely focused on revealing her father's mysterious past, which may or may not have anything to do with an incident that remains deeply buried inside Dawn. Confusion begins creeping in on all sides, and this time she may not be able to tuck everything away and pretend it's okay.

Deep, complex issues are at the root of DAWN, and Kevin Brooks attempts to tackle them all within 250 pages. While the reader will no doubt be swept up with the main character and her secrets, a lot of storylines go unexplored. Instead of trying to pack everything into one novel, I wish Brooks had focused on just one aspect of Dawn. There are a lot of questions left unanswered with little chance to make sense of them all. Still, there are readers out there who may be able to relate with DAWN, and for that it's worth adding the book to your list.

--- Reviewed by Benjamin Boche ([e-mail])